35 years? Mira said 35 years, didn’t she? Were they 12?

It’s hard not to fixate on details like this because they come in such an unusual way. Little dribs and drabs of relationship issues and personal lives that are in such stark contrast to the mechanics of the CIA’s day-to-day.

But seriously. How old is Mira? Where did she and Saul meet and start this weird dance of being in love but actually kind of irritated with each other and with the realities of their lives together? I get that Saul is gone, both physically and emotionally, a lot…leaving Mira to have affairs with men who are actually only in it for the access to the home computer. Which…the home computer? If this is counterintelligence, is that really the computer they want to tap? Or is Mira into something we don’t know about? I’m sure there’s a simile to be made about Saul cheating on Mira with his work. I’ll try to avoid it, but she was the one who pointed out that he speaks more softly to Carrie than to anyone else. What I love is that he always has – from the pilot, Saul has been infuriated and infatuated with her.

She is, of course, infuriating. This episode saw Carrie at what might be her purest. So incredibly focused on her job and so damned good at it. Honestly, that scene where she’s in the car after having met with Leland’s deputy – she’s actually gorgeous in her focus. This is the Carrie we know.

But so is the Carrie who storms across the parking lot, getting herself shot in the process. I mean, I know it was supposed to be dramatic, but come on! It’s Carrie Mathison! She can’t ever leave well-enough alone. She can’t ever let a mission play out the way it’s supposed to. If this was a sitcom, this would be the moment when the funny music would play. Carrie gets shot! Because she just can’t follow orders! What’s Dar Adal to do? She just won’t listen! Who knows what to do with these rogue agents? Wacky music, followed by a heartwarming moment with Quinn who just couldn’t help but shoot her!

Seriously, Carrie’s right to be concerned, though. The alleged-but-probably-actual Langley bomber was executed and dissolved with acid by people she’s pretending to be in league with. Oops. Furthermore, that means the double-agency she and Saul have set up – which is, of course, a phenomenal thing to watch, since I catch myself wondering about Carrie’s loyalties every time she’s in a scene with them – may not be as much of a dupe as they thought. The constant arranging and rearranging of who’s on top is what keeps the show interesting, and the fact that Leland didn’t blink in the face of a threat is something significant.

Speaking of which, how or why do we feel about Fara being interrogated at home? Does this add something extra to your viewing, or is it just an attempt to create some mystery and drama around a character who really hasn’t had an impact on any of us? I mean, I get it, on some level – anyone could be a threat and in an episode named “A Red Wheel Barrow” there are definitely red herring comments to be made. But going home to see that she cares for her father who is concerned about her but also about the family back home in Tehran doesn’t make me more interested in her. That could be anyone’s story. And of course, I’m supposed to think that “anyone” wouldn’t drive by the site of the double murder on the way home but seriously? That kind of thing dances in the nightmares of everyone who encounters it. It doesn’t make me more interested in Fara...

But Saul – Saul is a baller, as Sasha would say. Did you all see how he got the Senator kicked out of a high-level meeting? Did you cheer when he didn’t blink in front of Carrie at the meeting when she heard the Brody intel? Saul may have nine days left, but by God he is going to spend them well. Your mileage may vary, on whether going to see Brody is well-spent, but Saul has been on a mission all of us could barely understand all season. If he’s going to flame out, he’s going to go big and bright, and that includes bringing those red-ringed blue eyes home – or at least out of the Tower Of David.

And what will Brody find at home? (Don’t say Chris) You thought, just like I did, that Carrie was going to whisper her other secret to Quinn when they were riding in the van. She was shot in the shoulder – assumedly high enough up that she’ll be fine and not lose too much blood – but is it going to mean the question she’s been ignoring for the past 13 weeks is going to become a non-issue? Or is it something she’ll welcome Brody home with? Carrie can’t know, of course, the degree to which he’s been broken…again. So does that change her decision to, um, not make a decision? Is she committing to a child assuming she’ll never see its father again? Given that she called it “personal time” and not something she had to “go do”, is she committing to the child at all?

I kind of…don’t care. Is that nuts? Crazy goes-off-book Carrie is one thing, but out-of-control mentally unstable Carrie is another, and I want the season to let her get stronger and nuttier and more in partnership and in conflict with Saul – not more helpless. Whatever gets us there – that’s what I want to see.